recall
Free, offline persistent memory for Claude Code — automatic session logs and local summaries.
Recall is a practical, no-cost way to stop re-explaining your project to Claude Code every session. The local summarizer is basic but effective, and the privacy guarantee is absolute. If you're on a Claude Code subscription and want token savings without cloud dependency, install it—it just works.
Verified 8d ago · liveness 66/100 · cite: rightaichoice.com/tools/recall
- Claude Code users on local subscriptions wanting persistent context
- Developers wanting to reduce token waste from re-explaining projects
- Privacy-conscious coders who avoid cloud memory tools
- Solo developers and small teams on medium-to-large codebases
- Users needing GPU-dependent or LLM-based summarization (extractive only)
- Teams requiring synced memory across multiple devices or users
- Those using AI assistants other than Claude Code
We scan live Reddit threads, YouTube comments, X posts, G2 reviews and other communities — and hand you an honest verdict in under a minute.
- Honest verdict, not marketing
- Real pros & cons from real users
- Attributed quotes with receipts
3 free scans · no card needed
Skip Recall if you need LLM-based summarization, cross-device sync, or support for AI assistants other than Claude Code — or if you're unwilling to keep plaintext logs of your sessions on disk.
Recall is free — the only cost is your existing Claude Code subscription. Unlike cloud memory tools that charge per token or per seat, Recall's local summarizer spends zero tokens. For solo developers, it's the cheapest way to add persistent memory; teams may find it limiting due to lack of sync.
In short
recall — Free, offline persistent memory for Claude Code — automatic session logs and local summaries. Best for Claude Code users on local subscriptions wanting persistent context, Developers wanting to reduce token waste from re-explaining projects, Privacy-conscious coders who avoid cloud memory tools. Free to use.
What people actually say about recall — is it worth it?
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
133 mentions across 8 sources (Hacker News, YouTube, Product Hunt, App Store, Bluesky, Stack Overflow, GitHub, Lemmy) · researched Jun 22, 2026.
- +100% offline and private—no data ever leaves your machine.
- +Zero ongoing cost beyond your Claude Code subscription.
- +Lightweight, easy to install via GitHub clone or pip.
- +Open-source (MIT license) allows customization and auditing.
- +Reduces repetitive explanations across Claude Code sessions.
- −Extractive summarization may miss key context from complex sessions.
- −Only works with Claude Code—no integration with other AI tools.
- −Name collision with many other 'Recall' products causes confusion.
- −No active community or dedicated support channels observed.
- −Summarization quality is not LLM-grade—may feel basic.
- • Requires a Claude Code subscription (Claude Pro or API usage) to function.
Viability Score
How well maintained and how widely used is recall? Built from what the vendor actually publishes (docs, changelog, tutorials, integrations, pricing), whether the site is live, and how much real users discuss it. How we calculate this
Last calculated: August 2026
How we score →Key Features
- Automatic session logging via Claude Code Stop/SessionEnd hooks
- Local extractive summarization with TF-IDF + TextRank
- Generates context.md summary (~1-2K tokens)
- 100% offline — no data leaves your machine
- No API key or external service required
- Append-only history.md log
- /recall:save command for manual checkpoints
- Auto-save context on session end (configurable)
- Works with Claude Code subscription
- Complementary to CLAUDE.md and --continue
- Fenced as untrusted reference data by Claude
- Diffable plaintext logs in .recall/ folder
- Open-source (MIT license)
- Cross-platform (Linux, macOS, Windows)
- Custom configuration via recall.config.json
About recall
Recall is a free, open-source plugin that gives Claude Code persistent memory across sessions, entirely on your machine. Claude Code starts every session cold, so you often re-explain your project from scratch. Recall fixes that by keeping a local log of your sessions and condensing it into a resume-ready summary using a classical Python summarizer (TF-IDF + TextRank). There's no API key, no external model, and nothing ever leaves your machine—your code, paths, and any secrets stay put. It costs nothing beyond your Claude Code subscription and saves tokens by reducing repetitive context re-explanation. Recall works by writing two files into your project's .recall/ folder: history.md (the append-only session log) and context.md (the compact summary overwritten each session). The summarizer runs locally, so there are no LLM calls and no token spend for capturing or updating memory. Features include automatic session logging via Stop/SessionEnd hooks, automatic context regeneration on session end (configurable), and a /recall:save command for manual checkpoints. The summary includes deterministic facts pulled from the transcript and git: goal, files touched, commands run, where you left off, and git diff --stat. For privacy-conscious developers, Recall is a clear win—your code, paths, and secrets are never sent to an API. Most competing memory tools pipe context to a cloud model, whereas Recall's privacy guarantee is absolute. It's complementary to Claude Code's built-in memory (CLAUDE.md, --continue, or context compaction), filling the gap with an automatic, deterministic record of what each session did. Compared to alternatives like Memanto or Reyn, Recall is narrower—it only supports Claude Code and uses extractive summarization rather than LLM-based memory. That makes it simpler, cheaper (free), and more private, but less capable of understanding complex relationships. It's ideal for solo developers or small teams running Claude Code locally who want continuity
Behind the Verdict
Recall does one thing and does it well: it gives Claude Code a durable, local memory so you don't waste tokens re-explaining your project every session. The hook-based capture is automatic, and the TF-IDF + TextRank summarizer runs entirely on your machine, so there are zero token costs for building the summary. For developers on Claude Code's subscription, this can stretch your usage limits meaningfully, especially if you work across many sessions on the same codebase. The privacy angle is the real differentiator. Most memory tools send your context to a model endpoint; Recall keeps everything in a .recall/ folder, plaintext and diffable. That's a hard guarantee competitors can't match. If your work involves proprietary code or sensitive paths, that alone justifies the install. Where it gets limiting: the summarization is extractive, not generative. It picks sentence-level highlights based on TF-IDF and TextRank, so it won't synthesize complex relationships or produce a narrative the way an LLM-based memory would. For deep architectural discussions or sprawling feature work, the context.md might feel thin. That's the tradeoff for zero cost and full privacy. It's Claude Code only—no other AI assistants supported. If you hop between tools or work across multiple machines, note that the memory is local to each project folder, so it won't sync. Teams might miss shared memory, though the plaintext files are shareable. Compared to Memanto or Reyn, Recall is simpler and cheaper—free, open source (MIT). But those tools offer LLM-powered memory and broader integrations. If you need cross-assistant support or smarter summaries, they're worth a look. For solo devs on Claude Code, Recall's determinism and privacy are hard to beat. One caveat: the summarizer is a Python
Researching recall? Get your full AI stack in 60 seconds.
Free, no signup — tell us your goal and get tools matched to your budget & existing stack.
Real-world workflow fit
Concrete scenarios for the personas recall actually fits — and what changes day-one when you adopt it.
At the end of a session, Recall automatically saves a summary to context.md.
Outcome: Next session starts with a compact summary, saving tokens and re-explanation time.
Worried about sending code to a cloud memory service, they install Recall.
Outcome: All logs stay local; nothing leaves the machine, satisfying privacy requirements.
Team members work on the same machine and want continuity across sessions.
Outcome: Each session picks up where the last left off, improving productivity.
Use Cases
- Start a new Claude Code session and instantly resume context from previous work without re-explaining your project.
- Reduce token consumption on your Claude Code subscription by avoiding redundant context setup every session.
- Maintain a private, offline history of your coding conversations for personal reference.
- Integrate persistent memory into your local development workflow with zero cloud dependency.
- Use Recall as a zero-cost way to give Claude Code long-term memory for large, multi-session projects.
- Track the evolution of your project's context over time with condensed session summaries.
Models Under the Hood
as of 2026-08-11
Limitations
- Recall uses a classical extractive summarizer, not an LLM, so summaries may lack nuance compared to AI-generated ones.
- It is designed exclusively for Claude Code and does not integrate with other AI coding assistants.
- Memory is local to a single machine and not shared across devices or team members.
- The tool requires some command-line familiarity to install and configure.
as of 2026-08-01
Verification history
We have re-verified recall 8 times since . Each pass re-reads the vendor's own pages and re-checks every listed field against that evidence; passes where nothing had changed are marked as such.
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
- — re-verified summary, description, our verdict, our analysis, pricing model, pricing tiers, features, integrations, who it suits, who should skip it
Showing the 6 most recent of 8 verification passes.
Free to cite with attribution — this page re-verifies continuously.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Plans compared
For each published recall tier: who it actually fits, and what it adds vs. the previous tier. Cross-reference the cost calculator above for projected annual outlay.
Open Source (MIT)
$0
Ideal for
Anyone using Claude Code locally who wants free, private persistent memory.
What this tier adds
Starting tier: free and open-source, with all features included.
Where the pricing makes sense
The company stage and team size where recall's pricing actually pencils out — and where peers do it cheaper.
Recall is free — the only cost is your existing Claude Code subscription. Unlike cloud memory tools that charge per token or per seat, Recall's local summarizer spends zero tokens. For solo developers, it's the cheapest way to add persistent memory; teams may find it limiting due to lack of sync.
Setup time & first value
How long it actually takes to get something useful out of recall — broken out by persona, not the marketing-page minute.
Installation takes about 10 minutes: clone the repo, follow the README to add the plugin to Claude Code, and configure recall.config.json if needed. You'll see context.md created after your first session ends.
Switching to or from recall
How to bring data in from common predecessors and how to get it back out — written for the switcher, not the buyer.
- →From Claude Code's built-in memory (CLAUDE.md): Recall complements it; start by adding the plugin and let it auto-log sessions.
- ↗To an LLM-based memory tool like Memanto or Reyn: export your .recall/history.md as a reference for the new tool.
Integrations
Resources & Guides
Official links
Featured Head-to-Head Comparisons
Recall vs Bito
For a solo developer using Claude Code who wants free, private, offline session memory, Recall is the perfect lightweight tool. For engineering teams working across multi-repo projects with coding agents (Cursor, Claude Code, Codex) who need architectural awareness and cross-repo impact analysis, Bito’s knowledge graph and AI Architect provide a comprehensive context layer that boosts task success by 35% and cuts token costs by 47%.
Recall vs Cognition Ai
Recall and Cognition AI solve opposite ends of the AI-assisted development spectrum. Recall is a cost-free, offline memory plugin for Claude Code that helps solo developers or small teams maintain context across sessions without token waste. Cognition AI's Devin is a heavy-duty autonomous engineer for enterprise teams, capable of planning, coding, testing, and shipping production features with tools like auto-triage and legacy modernization. If you're a Claude Code user wanting persistent context without cloud dependency, Recall is a no-brainer. If you manage large codebases and need an autonomous agent that integrates with your whole toolchain, Devin's freemium model and enterprise guarantees make it worth exploring.
Recall vs Poolside Ai
Choose Recall if you're an individual Claude Code user who wants free, offline session memory to reduce token waste. Choose Poolside AI if you're an enterprise in a regulated industry needing custom foundation models, long-horizon multi-agent planning, and air-gapped deployment with full governance.
Popular in Code & Development
Frequently Asked Questions
Used recall? Help shape our editorial sentiment research.